The Kiwi driver was sidelined for much of the F1 2024 campaign after being overlooked for a drive at Racing Bulls.
He’d thrust himself into contention courtesy of five cameo appearances in place of Ricciardo midway through the F1 2023 season after the Australian broke his hand while practising for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Relegated back to reserve driver as Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda were the preferred race options for F1 2024, it was an experience Lawson admits he found especially difficult.
“The reserve driver position before F1 was always tough, but it wasn’t that tough because I never knew what it was like to be in F1,” the New Zealander told Speedcafe as part of the KTM Summer Grill.
“I would watch the sessions, I’d watch the guys climb into the car and talk to the engineers and do the grid, warm-up laps.
“I always imagined what it’d be like to be a Formula 1 driver, and then I got the chance to race in Zandvoort, and I did those five races, and had to step back.”
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Lawson climbed the ladder to F1 the hard way, relying on scholarships and sponsorship to fund his career – his parents sold the family house to fund his early racing.
Even after being picked up by the Red Bull driver program, it was not an all-expenses-paid arrangement and the young Kiwi had to continue to graft despite being on the precipice of F1.
Having tasted F1 in 2023 only to be left with uncertainty as to whether he’d ever get the opportunity again was difficult.
“Stepping back and watching after that… that was really tough,” he confessed.
“I knew everything. I knew what it was like. Everything I was watching, I’d been there, I’d done it, and experienced and knew what it was like.
“That was really, really tough, honestly, as a driver to watch that – also not knowing if I was going to get that chance again.
“That was the hardest part.”
Lawson was finally given another opportunity following the Singapore Grand Prix towards the end of the F1 2024 season.
Thrown into the second Racing Bulls in place of Ricciardo for the final six races, he showed promising form.
A near match for Tsunoda, his more experienced team-mate, it was enough to catch the eye of both Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, who promoted him into the senior Red Bull operation in place of the beleaguered Sergio Perez.
It made for a whirlwind 18 months during which Lawson himself admitted he felt his F1 dream was slipping away.
Now, he occupies one of the most coveted seats in the sport alongside the benchmark performer in, Max Verstappen.
“It’s surreal,” Lawson confessed.
“I’ve come here to the main factory across the street for six years now, as a junior, coming into the factory, looking at the trophies, working with the team, always imagining what that would be like to be a main driver for this team.
“It’s very surreal. Honestly, when I think about it now, it obviously hasn’t quite hit home yet.
“I’m just so excited.”
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